The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday issued a statement condemning the ceasefire violation along the line of control (LoC) by the Indian forces in the Mandal Sector which led to the death of 35-year-old Nusrat Bibi in Ghasla village.

FO spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal also summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh in this regard and conveyed Pakistan's condemnation of the unprovoked violations.

He urged the Indian side to investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations and instruct the Indian forces to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement in letter and spirit in order to maintain peace on the LoC and the working boundary.

Dr Faisal said that the Indian side should permit UNMOGIP (United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

According to the foreign office statement, the Indian forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons.

In 2018, the Indian forces have so far carried out more than 1,400 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the martyrdom of 30 innocent civilians, while injuring 121 others, the statement said.

This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India has been ongoing since the year 2017 when its forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations, the statement added.

"The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws," it observed adding that the violations "are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation".